If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad; if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
- John F. Kennedy

The U.S. is, as expected, by far the world's biggest arms spender, according to the think tank. It represented almost 42% of the 2008 total, more than the 14 other top countries combined in what SIPRI described as a legacy from former presidentGeorge W. Bush.

Since 1999, U.S. defense spending has soared 67% in real terms to $607 billion last year.

As a comparison, the non-tax cut portion of the PorkulusGenerational Theft Stimulus Bill that so outraged the Teabaggers was a mere $499B. And yet, for some of those very same Teabaggers, $607 billion just isn't cutting it.

"Reducing Alaska's defense readiness in these perilous times is a show of weakness, it is not a sign of strength," Palin said during a celebration in upstate New York honoring native son William Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska in 1867 as Secretary of State.

Is it just me or does anyone else think that maybe we ought to rethink this whole military thing or at least move the spending into the ballpark with the rest of the world. I understand the need for a strong military given our position in the world but really!